WIRE tennis tourney raises record amount for local breast cancer charities

Touchstone Energy and Mid-Carolina Electric's Women Involved in Rural Electrification (WIRE) sponsored an open Midlands tennis tournament the weekend of August 27th-29th at the award-winning Lexington County Tennis Complex. Two hundred match participants -- women, men and junior boys and girls - faced off for over 25 hours of play and raised $6,000, topping last year's tournament support.

Event Chairperson Mary Rawl notes that WIRE members -- and their families-worked as hard as the players. "We appreciate all the help we got from the community in our efforts to support breast cancer patients," said Rawl, "and everyone had a great time."

Players traveled from as far away as Atlanta to take part in the event.

Proceeds will now benefit local projects including sponsoring WIRE's annual Breast Cancer Survivors' Celebration in October and WIRE's scholarship program at "Becky's Place" at Lexington Medical Center. WIRE donations to "Becky's Place" are used to provide wigs and breast prostheses to women who cannot afford them. MCEC chose Becky's Place four years ago, when they learned that insurance did not cover wigs and prosthetics. "It was too expensive and many survivors had to go without," MCEC's Jan Bonnette explains. "Our hearts just went out to them."

For more information about the good work done at Becky's Place, click here.

For more information about WIRE activities or to donate, call 749-6555.

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